Fad Diets and Nutrition Camps
Food practices are a lot like clothes shopping. Both revolve around a core concept (to feed or cloth yourself, respectively). But the ability and practice of each is largely based on personal circumstance – finances, access, culture, personal values, and beliefs.
I have no problem when people want to try on a new approach to food, so long as they’re not shocked and/or blame themselves if it doesn’t fit.
Trying an approach to food because it “worked” for someone else is similar to buying an outfit that looked good on a manikin. Most of us aren’t plastic, immobile, featureless, trapped in one moment of time.
Let’s take a look at some common dietary practices and connect them back to shopping. All seem harmless at face value. Some seem very moral. But the point is, it’s not realistic for one approach to work for all people. Just like clothes, you have to find YOUR way based on your personal needs and circumstances – not the practices of others.
Restrictive Diets
Dietary approaches that take out an entire food group or food chemistry is similar to someone vowing to never again wear pants. Certainly one can go without pants and opt shorts, skirts, or a banana hammock. But as temperatures drop and personal circumstances change, sometimes only pants will do the trick. You can try to avoid pants all you want, but you'll likely end up pretty cold and deprived.
Morality Focus
There are many reasons why someone may choose to be selective about the source of their food - how it's grown and comes to the table is an important consideration. Similarly it's also valuable to consider how and where clothing is made. But to do either takes a degree of privilege - you need the education to do research, the financial ability to be selective, and alternative options. For some, trying to be super selective about their food based on animal welfare / environmental concerns is like saying "don't buy anything from Walmart" when Walmart is the only store for 50 miles around
Calorie Obsession
Choosing food based on it's calorie content alone is like choosing clothing based only on cost. If you have a set budget that doesn't allow for the purchase of a winter coat, you can buy all the inexpensive socks you want, they will never be a winter coat and satisfy your true need. Similarly I've bought countless outfits from TJ Maxx at rock bottom prices, only to have them falling apart the next week. Sure they were low cost, but I ended up buying 5 low quality shirts when one higher price would've lasted longer (and been more comfortable).
Organic Purist
Trying to buy organic food is a wonderful pursuit but so far, we have little to no scientific evidence to suggest that eating organic foods will help you avoid or improve disease burden. But it sounds good, right? It's like buying a big name brand in the hope and promise that it will last longer and be more comfortable. Sometimes you do get what you pay for, but it's not a guarantee. So it comes down to making the first priority to have enough and then be selective as your values drive you.
Fasting
Intermittent fasting is all the rage. It seems logical to many steeped in dieting where any kind of food avoidance is virtuous and will result in some kind of health benefit. It can feel as liberating and powerful as not wearing clothes. But eventually, every body needs clothes again - whether to protect against the weather, insects, or social decency. So do humans need to eat food! And if you go without clothes in extreme circumstances, you can certainly plan to feel the need to double up when the body (and mind) just can't take it anymore.
Meal Plans
Everyone wants a meal plan but why are they so hard to stick to? Most anyone can predict the basic essentials a human needs and provide a variety of combinations to keep a body full. But being full, does not necessarily mean satisfied.
Similar to clothes, on any given day, we all have the knowledge that we'll need an item of clothing to cover our core body and some degree of coverage on our arms and legs. But depending on the temperature, our activities, weather conditions, a body may need more layers and protection. And that's largely based on individual systems and lifestyles.
Most anyone can create a meal plan to cover the basics. But they do little to predict and adapt to circumstance or personal need such as holidays gatherings or the work lunch break. And they do little to help you develop the skills and confidence to change as needed.
Intuitive Eating
Let's start off by saying intuitive eating is not apathy. Call it a strategy, process, or approach to make sense of internal needs and external drivers.
Translating that into clothing, intuitive eating is not, "I'm going to wear shorts when it's 20 degrees because I want to wear shorts!" Instead, it's taking a step back and gently asking yourself, "How would wearing shorts in this weather serve me? What is driving my desire to wear shorts? Is there a way to wear shorts and still stay warm?"
Sometimes the answer is absolutely wearing shorts and dealing with the cold because all you wanted was to wear shorts.
But other times it's recognizing that wearing shorts in 20 degree weather will leave you frigid. And doing it chronically for long periods of time may cause you harm. But you could wear them in the house...or at the pool...or with leggings to both meet your needs and your desires. Deeper still, it might be about recognizing the unspoken desire to go to Florida...or the need for freedom and flexibility...or you seriously need to turn down the thermostat in your house.
Role of the Dietitian
My job is to help you develop the skills to choose clothing each time. To find enough clothes to stay warm and comfortable, that match your budget, in the style that best suits you. Like clothing, food approaches can be influenced by popular culture. But the danger lies in making a choice based solely on what other people are doing and not personal need. But what works now, will likely change in a few years and that’s ok. As our values and circumstance change, so often do our food selections.
Stop beating yourself up for past approaches that no longer work. We’re not meant to wear the same clothes we did in high school.
That’s why I like and promote the practice of intuitive eating the most. It’s still based upon core nutrition value of giving the body quality fuel. But it’s about developing the skills and awareness to find flexibility and adapt to and address where you are, right now.